Power Chords ( Fifth Chords )

Power Chords are an important aspect of playing rock/metal guitar and they are probably one the easiest chords to play. These chords are very versatile as they can render a harmonic texture to most songs and can be played anywhere on the neck of the guitar.

The power chords are also commonly known as the fifth chords and are usually denoted like this – G5 , C5, D5 etc… It consists of a root and a perfect 5th interval and can be derived from the major. The root (note that determines name of the chord) is the lowest note that is played. To illustrate this, let’s use the C major scale to derive the C5 power chord.

The C5 power chord contains 2 notes : C & G and this is how they would look like on tablature.

Try playing the C power chord with both 2 notes and 3 notes. In the 3 notes form of the power chord, the root note is play with an octave for a fuller and sharper sounding tone. If you want your power chords to sound heavier, stick with the 2 notes power chord. Power chords are often played on the thicker strings (5th & 6th) with distortion to give it the extra crunch and rock sound.

How to hold power chords

For the 2 notes power chord, you should ideally use your index finger to fret the root note and place your pinky finger to fret the other.

From the top view, the 2 notes power chords looks like this.

Alternatively, you can hold a minor barre chord and by just strumming ONLY the bottom 3 strings you will also get the power chord.

In a nutshell, playing power chords is very much similar to playing barre chords and they are movable chords which make chord switching really fast. Now, let’s head to the practice! The first exercise is actually to get you fingers used to changing power chords. In this exercise, take note that all the notes that should be played are sounded clearly whereas those notes that are supposed to be muted stay muted when you are changing chords.

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The next exercise uses an integration of power chords playing and palm muting. This is my interpretation of intro rhythm guitar of a song called Famous Last Words by My Chemical Romance. It makes use of heavy palm muting combined with précised rhythm guitar playing to create a very impactful intro to the song. Here, crank up your distortion and you’ll hear for yourself why power chords are such an essential part of playing rock music.

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